Pakse and the Bolaven Plateau

Southern Laos – November 2022

One of my favorite parts of my journey through Southeast Asia begins in Pakse. After getting off the nightbus, I stumble into the 1918 Hostel and a few minutes later am shown to my bed for the night. I pass the day reading, writing, watching the sunset at the Mekong alongside local youths and treat myself to the loveliest Italian meal since June! Seriously, Dok Mai Lao Trattoria Italiana is an incredible place if you crave European food when in Southern Laos. I enjoy a delicious 3-course meal of Bruschetta, Spaghetti Carbonara, and Tiramisu with a beer for a grand total of 12 Euros. And with this, I am ready for the next day’s adventure. I want to take a sidecar motorbike taxi to the local market, where I should get on a Songthaew to make it to the Bolaven Plateau.

I am lucky to check out right as an old Lao man pulls up with his sidecar motorbike to drop off new arrivals. I negotiate a reasonable fare to go to the local market and he swiftly straps my backpack onto the wooden footrest. During the ride we chat in French and when we arrive at Dao Heuang Market, he promptly asks around for the driver of my Songthaew and makes sure I get a good rate. I jump on the back of the yellow bus and sit down on the bench next to a young lady holding a baby. We leave after around 15 minutes and an uneventful 30-minute ride later, my Google Maps shows that we’re soon passing my destination. So I give the back window of the driver’s cabin a few good hits to request a stop. I pay the negotiated fare and carry my backpack to the side of the road.

I watch the black fumes of the yellow truck slowly disappear behind the next bend and try to get one of the employees at ETU Green Garden’s attention. Finally, I am let into the property and shown to my private hut for the nights to come. Soumaly, the lady who owns the guest house has told me that she will only return later that evening. So I explore the gardens on my own and am delighted to find a tree house with a hammock strung up on its porch from where one enjoys a magnificent view of the plateau. As the weather forecast is announcing rain in the evening, I decide to make the most of the sunny afternoon hours and head to a coffee research centre I located on Google Maps. The way leads me down a small dirt path, across someone’s farm and finally up a small hill. The entrance to the property looks quite official, but the gate is wide open, so I walk in.

There are cows grazing freely, and a rental car is parked underneath one of the stilt houses. I walk towards the rental car and soon spot the sign saying “I love Lao coffee”, where a Thai couple is taking pictures. The view of the lush green valley below is simply stunning, so I also take a few commemorative photos and sit down at one of the long wooden tables. Just when I’m about to leave, an Eastern Asian man comes down the stairs and asks where I’m from. He’s a Korean researcher stationed at the agricultural center for 3 months. We end up chatting about our travel experiences and sustainable farming practices for 2 hours before the rain clouds appear. I barely make it back to the gardens before the downpour begins. That night Soumaly’s daughter prepares an amazing dinner for me and I soundly fall asleep to the sound of the raindrops falling on the roof of my wooden hut.

The next day, after a hearty breakfast, I decide to walk the 6.5 kilometers along the Pakse loop to Tad Gneuang waterfall. Fortunately, the climate on the plateau is pleasantly mild and I am not sweating for the first time during my stay in Laos. On the way, I enjoy the glimpses I get into the small roadside shops, car repair places, and wooden houses. I pass free-running chickens and men burning rubbish in their courtyard. Whenever I exchange a glance with someone, I politely greet them with “Sabaidee” which they usually respond to with a big smile. Shortly before I reach the intersection to the waterfall, a tourist on a scooter offers me a ride. We bounce down the dirt track and pay the entrance fee. As both of us want to take some time to read, we part ways after passing the main bridge. I explore the top of the waterfall before climbing down the steep stairs to the pool on the bottom. I was planning to swim here, but the wind and the gushes of water are too strong.

So I soon return to the top and order lunch at the restaurant which Soumaly told me about. The Lao owner enjoys talking to me in French and warns me, that it will be raining soon. And 10 minutes later, the downpour begins. Unbothered, I pull out my book and prepare to read until the rain stops. Suddenly, I hear a man shrieking in the entrance area. He slipped and fell because his flip-flops were not exactly made for this condition. Just at this moment, my phone rings and Soumaly invites me to visit her partner farms in the area. As she is not allowed to enter the waterfall park without paying the entry fee, I run through the rain to her white Suzuki pick-up parked outside. We drive to Paksong and visit various farms to collect organically grown vegetables, which she will present at an upcoming agricultural expo. Walking through the greenhouses reminds of my summer jobs at my town’s nursery when I was a teenager. Except that they didn’t have chickens running around the patches.

Soumaly has to run some more errands and drops me off at the intersection to another waterfall. As I cross the street, I feel the first raindrops announcing the afternoon shower on my skin. So I decide to ditch the second waterfall and walk back towards ETU Green Gardens along the main road. I walk on the right side of the street, to make it easy for passing vehicles to stop in case they want to give me a lift. However, today isn’t the day for hitch-hiking and I end up walking past the same wooden houses, shops and temples I passed a few hours ago. A Songthaew full with monks in orange drapes and another one dropping off school kids on their way back home roar down the street with black fumes coming out of their exhaust pipes. Suddenly, a loud “Sabaidee” makes me turn right. I’m surprised to find a barber shop in an open hut on the side of the street. It’s the hairdresser who shouts at me with a big smile. Without realizing it, I’m already back at KM35. I spend the next hours cuddling in the cozy hammock at the tree house with the cute stray cat until dinner is ready.

After extending my stay on the Pakse loop to 3 nights, it is finally time to say goodbye to this beautiful place and lovely Soumaly. She kindly brings me to the local market outside Pakse, from where I want to take the local bus to the very south of Laos. But before I can start looking for the bus, I have to stop at an ATM to withdraw enough cash for the next days, as there are no cash machines on Si Pha Don (aka 4000 islands). With my 2 million Kip stowed away in various pockets, I can finally ask my way around the market to find the platform for Nakasong. It’s definitely the liveliest and most colourful bus station I’ve seen on this trip, filled with lots of big vans that have countless pieces of luggage and other goods strapped onto their roofs. When the driver of my bus honks three times to announce its departure, I take my seat and make sure to open the window to let in the refreshing driving wind.

Head over to my new post to read my stay on paradise-like Don Det and swimming in the Mekong with water buffaloes.